Galina Averina, Magda; Claire Lees, Lisette; Sébastien Guèze, Ruggero; Elgan Llŷr Thomas,
Prunier; Philip Smith, Rambaldo; Pasquale Orchard, Yvette; Kathryn Sharpe, Bianca; Laura Kelly-Mcinroy, Suzy; Ross Mcinroy, Périchaud; Satriya Krisna, Gobin; Paul Gibson, Crébillon;
Andrew Randall, Rabonnier. Kerem Hasan, Conductor; James Hurley, Director; Leslie Travers, Set Designer; Gabrielle Dalton, Costume Designer
It’s a strange experience going to listen to and see what was for me a completely unknown work by a famous composer in his prime – and be gradually introduced in the course of the evening to some wonderful music that I’d not known about. How could it have taken this long? For this was a first for me – indeed I am not sure how aware I was of this work until I knew that Opera North were putting it on. It’s not as though it’s from Puccini’s early years – it’s from the latter half of his working life, yet it never seems to have had great critical acclaim. Extraordinary when it’s such a popular composer (whose orchestration is always fascinating, despite some of the soppiness of his operas’ plots)…….This one seems to be loosely based on scenarios from Die Fledermaus and La Traviata, and, I believe, was originally conceived as an operetta with spoken dialogue – this then changed to being a through-composed work. It was originally to be premiered in Vienna but then got moved to France (1917) when, during the First World War, Italy and Austria found themselves on opposing sides.
This was in the event a big, very pleasant surprise for me. Puccini thought his brief was to get one over on Strauss and Rosenkavalier, according to one account I’ve read. Rosenkavalier is a very great work and I wouldn’t put the two at all on the same level but I enjoyed La Rondine enormously. It’s not a big hitter in the way Tosca or Turandot are, but, in its quieter way, has lots to offer. It has some really very fine Puccini big tunes (many of them with a waltz-like rhythm). It has a story that is realistic, properly verismo – most people can relate to it (high class courtesan and her maid go out on the town, the heroine Magda meets a great guy, she renounces her ‘protector’ and goes off with the newcomer. They live happily together in straitened circumstances but when Magda hears her bloke has got his parents’ permission to marry she feels she cannot present herself to them and her lover without telling all – she feels she isn’t worthy of him and them and finally goes off into some sort of new life – at least in this version; Puccini never completed it to his satisfaction and there are various nastier endings). There’s luscious Puccini scoring – not as complex as Turandot, but very redolent of La Fanciulla del West, perhaps, with some extraordinary sounds – rumbling double basses accompanying Magda at one point, for instance. It’s also a work that is less objectifying of women than some of Puccini’s operas – Magda has her point of view and remains herself throughout – she’s not really a victim. The big ‘club’ scene is lively and without cliches. “Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso” in Act 2 is a real ear-worming number….It’s a work I feel I immediately want to hear again and I am going to get a recording a.s.a.p. I cannot understand why this work remains in the doldrums while fairly dire operas like Manon and Werther get constant showings………..not to mention the lesser Verdi…….
The Opera North production was really very fine, and I felt director and designer did the best job possible for this work. The production was part of Opera North’s Green Season – ie recycling sets from old productions to save money! – and the first two acts used various moveable rectangular blocks and sets of steps to create a drawing room and a club. The blocks were pushed to the side for Act 3 to create a bedroom. Costumes were vaguely 1920’s (not sure why, really, but it didn’t matter) . What was most impressive about the production was the director’s handling of the interplay between the different characters – this was utterly believable, be it between the principals or among chorus members; one was utterly sucked into their world and made to believe it to be credible and real.
For this to happen of course, you need to have first class singing actors as principals. With one partial exception they were present. Galina Averina, a new name to me, was, I thought, wholly believable and she sang beautifully. The arrogant poet Prunier was very well charatcterised by Elgan Llŷr Thomas, and Claire Rees was an appropriately slightly dotty Lisette, Mada’s maid. Philip Smith, a lowering presence on stage, was very good as Rambaldo. I found Sébastien Guèze, who is clearly a very experienced singer from the programme notes about him, a bit unfocused at times in his acting as Ruggero, and his voice was sometimes quite ugly – relatively little of the legato and bel canto we might expect from a tenor singing this sort of repetoire. As a nice bonus a contemporary of my son and younger daughter at secondary school was in the supporting cast, singing a minor role as a member of Opera North chorus. The orchestral accompaniment under Kerem Hassan sounded totally idiomatic and coordination with the stage was handled well – I noted some beautiful oboe playing at one point
So…..a very good evening…….Was it just my imagination or was it the case that when one of the characters refers to various famous women of the past – Salome, Berenice – there’s one of the motifs from R.Strauss’ Salome suddenly quoted…… ?
Being a numbers person, to the point of tedium, I calculated that this was the 154th opera I’d been to see live. I have a list of about 130 I’d still like to see before I depart – top of the bucket list are Pfitzner’s Palestrina, R.Strauss’ Die ägyptische Helena, Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppaea, Rienzi and Tippett’s King Priam! (another one, Strauss’ Daphne is coming up, and I am also seeing my first Rimsky-Korsakov opera, both in December)
John's musical journey 